Every Rose Has It's Thorn
by RasberryGirl
Summary: *Chap. 7!!!** I am soo incredibly sorry to everyone! I have no excuse except writer's block and school stuff. :) The story is starting to wrap up, but the teens are just getting started on the antics (especially Marco and Jordan!)
1. I'm not a teenybopper...well, not really...

Every Rose Has It's Thorns

While Cassie was busy distributing the animals their respective meds, Rachel observed a CD from the stack she had found lying near the stereo. She cocked an eyebrow as she read the name.

"Cassie...This wasn't here a few days ago, was it?" She said, a slight frown on her face. But, loosing her confusion, her face took on the look of a mischievous child as she took a moment to gaze at the front cover of it. Her grin grew further when as she said, "I had no idea you were a teenybopper." Cassie's face flushed pink but luckily she was faced towards the wire birdcages. She closed the last bottle of pills and replaced it back among the other prescriptions. 

"I wouldn't say that exactly. My mom bought it for me last week, and all outta nowhere she goes off on this speech about how I need to be interested in things other people my age are. She has this weird idea that the stuff I listen to is making me depressed or something," she told her friend, shrugging her small shoulders as she washed her hands.

Rachel nodded in sympathy, and inspected the other music that was lying out. Her light blue eyes widened. "Hmm...Well, I for one happen to think you're choice of music happens to be very positive. I mean, if you really think about it NIN could practically be the Osmond Brothers. Fiona Apple could maybe be Marie. Oh!" She said, lifting up another jewel case and squinting at the title. "And I'm positive from the names of these songs that Mr. Rogers must be Outkast's number one fan," she finished. (A/N: ::sings:: don't you think I'm so sexaayy I'm just so fresh so clean.....) Cassie pursed her lips together, shaking her head as she lightly dried her hands, then stepped out of her old work overalls.

"I get it, Rach. But those are all just stereotypes. Just because they might seem a little...intimidating doesn't mean their music is bad. Really," she said at Rachel's smirk. Rachel sighed and looked down to inspect her nails. 

"Hey, I like them too. But my mom monitors literally everything that goes through the door. She can sense a parental advisory label from a mile away. It's like she's a freaking' metal detector or something." Cassie smiled and finally sat down to join her. She slipped off her boots and replaced them with regular shoes.

"Well, that's life I guess. And No Strings Attached isn't all that bad, actually," she admitted. 

"Don't your sisters like that kind of thing?" 

Rachel took out the CD and popped it into the player, then pushed the "Shuffle" button.

"You're talking about stereotypes? Listen, yesterday I was talking to Marco about what I should get Jordan for her birthday. I know, I know, dumb idea," she said to Cassie's skeptical look. "But we were both at the mall and you and Jake were...well...who knows where." Cassie blushed fiercely.

"Shuddup!"

"Anyway," Rachel said with a coy grin, "he suggested I get her a game for her Playstation, which is cool. So we walk around until we find this place that sells video game software and magazines and stuff, and I pick up NFL Blitz 2000, because I know how long Jordan had wanted it. Then Marco walks over and asks what I got, and as soon as he sees it he starts LAUGHING at me and says 'Yeah right! Jordan is a GIRL remember?' As if I were stupid or something!!!" By this time Rachel was standing up and bright red in the face. 

So that's why he had that black eye on Monday, Cassie mused to herself silently.

"Well, I'm sure he didn't mean to insult you. That's just how he is."

"That doesn't excuse it. And that's not the only time I've heard Marco or even other guys say stuff like that. You remember that time with the movies?" Rachel replied, pushing her blond hair away from her face. Cassie's facial expression changed from mild to high interest. Suddenly she remembered the time her, Jake, Tobias and Rachel had rented a couple of movies. (Rachel and Cassie had wanted to see American Beauty; Tobias and Jake both preferred Gladiator.) They'd agreed to watch both movies if they could see Gladiator first, since it was longer. The girls agreed, and put up with nearly 3 hours of blood spilling and bone crunching. As if they didn't get enough of that in real life. When they had finally popped American Beauty in the VCR, both males had found rather lame excuses to why they had to leave. Rachel and Cassie ended up watching the movie alone. 

The anger made its way back into their faces with the shared memory. Cassie soon stood up as well.

"You know, you're right Rachel! That was so wrong of them to make us watch what they chose and then bail when we finally got to the one we wanted to see!" she said vehemently. 

"Mm-hmm, and I can't believe we actually let them get away with it." Rachel added. 

"The things love can do to you," Cassie sighed. The other girl nodded in agreement and frowned slightly. 

"Amen to that." 

"To what?" Marco interrupted, walking into the barn with Jake, Tobias, and Ax with a bag of Cheetos in his hands. 

"That all males are chauvinist pigs," Rachel answered him. Ax stared at her blankly.

"I was not aware that males were of different species than females, much less "chauvinists". How strange." Tobias patted him on the back and whispered in his ear. 

"We're not. That's just what girls like to say when a guy pisses them off." 

Rachel frowned. Since when had sweet Tobias gotten so blockheaded? Before she had a chance to contradict what he had just said Jake grimaced and said, "Aw, Cassie, what is that on the radio. It sounds like...uh...like...."

"I believe the word is crap," Ax spoke up. Tobias nodded and Marco gave him a discreet high five.

"Can you please turn it off?" Jake asked, giving Cassie an adorable yet conniving puppy dog face. Why does he have to be so cute when he does that, she thought. He smiled when she reluctantly turned off "Space Cowboy." 

"Thanks, Cassie. That's much better. "

Cassie and Rachel exchanged looks. This was not going to work.


	2. Girl's Night In

Later that week Cassie and Rachel were back at the latter's house, for a three day sleepover. Finals had been a killer, and both girls were ready for a weekend of rest and relaxation, minus the guys, who all decided spending their time and money at the stupid arcade in the mall was much more fun than with their better halves. Neither of them were very surprised.

They were going to be pretty much on their own due to an important business trip Rachel's mom had to make. Sara would be staying at a friend's house while Jordan would stay with them. It wasn't a problem, since all of them got along fine and they were almost all the same ages. In other words, they knew Jordan wouldn't mind if they made a royal mess of the house. 

As soon as Rachel dropped Sara off the girls decided to order in some Chinese and watch the "Fear" Marathon on MTV. They all found it quite difficult to eat without bursting out in giggles when the people kept screaming though. Jordan rolled her eyes as she chewed on a vegetable egg roll.

"Okay, how dumb is this! We all know that there are people in the other rooms making those noises," she said when two of the guys on screen were trying to figure out if the "ghosts" were stomping. Cassie grabbed her drink, took a long sip and shrugged.

"It is kinda dumb, but in a way I can see why they'd be creeped out. Who knows what kind of things happened in that hospital," she shivered. Rachel snorted as she sat a half empty sesame noodle box on the floor.

"I don't even see why anyone would want to do it in the first place. I mean, what's the purpose? Other than proving to the entire country how much of a moron you are," she quipped. Cassie raised an eyebrow.

"They DO get paid for it. It's not like they didn't have a choice in being there or not," she said, and Jordan nodded. Rachel shrugged.

"That just proves my point. If you know you can't handle it, why do it?" She shifted on the floor so her head was propped up lazily by one arm, and sighed.

"Too bad you have to be seventeen to get an interview. I bet you I could outlast all of those idiots put together."

Just then, a bolt of lightning flashed across the night sky and all the lights in the house went out. Rachel immediately screamed and jumped toward Jordan and Cassie. They both burst out laughing while Rachel blushed in the dark.

"Sure you could handle it, Rachel." 

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^

The lights didn't come on for the rest of the night, but luckily Rachel's mom kept a healthy supply of candles in the garage. The girls all lit one for themselves and lighted up a few extra, for places in the house where light was really needed. They decided to stay put in the family room, where they sat in a close circle on the floor. Rachel and Cassie were sharing with Jordan some valuable information every girl needed to know before getting in a relationship.

"All males are blockheaded, no matter how mature and sweet they may seem," Rachel said immediately, nodding to Cassie for support. She wasn't quite ready to reveal her relationship with Tobias to her sister yet. Instead she took it upon herself to reveal Jake and Cassie's.

"Just ask our old friend Cassie here about Jake." Jordan smirked as the other teenager tried not to blush.

"You like cousin Jake? Ewwww!!!" Cassie sighed but shook her head yes.

"Yeah, I guess Rachel's right. Jake is probably one of the sweetest, most considerate guys I've ever known. On my birthday he had his name and mine inscribed on the back of these beautiful rings. The design of his was a plain band but mine was two pieces of thin silver wrapped around each other with a small diamond in the center.. It must have taken him forever to save for them." She smiled softly.

" I've seen him wear his on occasion, but I know for a fact that when he's with his friends he always takes it off." She looked down wistfully.

"It's almost scary how much and how fast they change when they are with other guys."

Jordan's mouth opened slightly and Rachel shook her head. That was pretty harsh, especially for Jake. 

Jordan pulled her long chestnut brown into a makeshift bun, interested.

"That's rough Cassie. I always thought guys were supposed to mature with age," she said. 

Rachel laughed.

"That's the oldest misconception in the WORLD," she stated. Cassie held back a smile at the tone of her voice. Luckily Rachel quickly sobered before she did.

"Hey Jordan, promise not to tell anyone." Jordan glanced at her in surprise and nodded.

"Yeah, of course." Rachel nodded and looked at Cassie, who also nodded.

"Well...don't tell anyone, but I kinda do have a boyfriend. You probably wouldn't know him, but mom would try to force it out if I ever told her. His name is Tobias." Jordan scooted closer, content with the fact her sister and her friend were trusting her to their secrets. She smiled.

"Go on." Rachel's serious look changed to a small smirk.

"Okay, don't get me wrong, when I say this, I care about Tobias and everything, but like Cassie said I can't stand the way they treats us," she gestured to herself and Cassie, "when we are around other people. I mean, it's really silly if you think about it. Like on Valentine's Day, he got me these beautiful white roses and a huge bag of Sweethearts, since I told him they are my absolute favorite. Just when I'm about to kiss him Marco walks in the room and he jumps away like I'm the bubonic plague or something," she finishes. Jordan had stopped listening at the mention of Marco's name. That boy was so fine. Rachel may hate him and he may be a little small but hey, there was time to grow. Slowly a smile crept onto her lips. She just hoped he wouldn't grow out of his sexiness. Cassie looked at the expression on the lovestruck teenager's face, then at her sister, who still appeared to be somewhat perturbed.

"Rach, I think someone is in luv," she whispered close to her ear. Rachel snapped out of her reverie and stared at Jordan. She grinned.

"So Jordan...Are you thinking of anyone special right now?" she asked innocently. Jordan looked at her and blushed fiercely. Why did she have to be so obvious?

"No, Rachel, I'm NOT. I'm not thinking of any**body**." Cassie patted her arm gently.

"Marco may be obnoxious but he certainly has a **body**. A very nice one at that," she prodded. Rachel caught on to her friends dirty tricks, and gleefully joined in. 

"With a creamy caramel complexion," she purred, "Soft, kissable lips..."

"...And one helluva an ass." Jordan sighed. Cassie grimaced. Ewwwwww. This girl was really SERIOUS!!!

A/N: LMAO. This story is so much fun to write.


	3. A Suspicious Gesture of Kindness

"Uh, so Rachel, what are we going to do about them? You saw how they were acting the other day. It's completely barbaric!" Cassie changed the subject quickly.

"They burned us, so now we...burn them back." Rachel slowly waved her pinky finger right above of the melting candle. She grinned at the looks on Cassie's and Jordan's faces as the flames licked her finger.

"You know, Cass, ever since last week I've been thinking about it. And I've finally come to the conclusion that if they're willing to hold our sexuality against us, the only thing we can do is use it FOR us." Cassie looked confused.

"I'm not catching your drift. What exactly are you saying, that we should seduce them with our "feminine wiles" or something? Parade around half naked in bikinis and whipped cream?" she laughed.

(A/N: To any guys who may be reading this, stop salivating. That's not nice. ^_^) 

When Rachel didn't answer Jordan and Cassie just stared at her.

"Okay, if you're really considering what I just said I want it to be known I was joking." 

Rachel grinned at her. 

"Okay, Cassie."

She didn't know if she was being serious or not. It was times like those Cassie really wondered if it was so wrong for people to think Rachel's mind was "out there" at times. She was pretty sure at that moment it had to be. Jordan read Cassie's mind and said, "Rachel, I'm starting to worry about you. Maybe your softball coach should've paid more attention to the hollow sound your head made when the pitcher hit you in the head with the ball." Rachel's grin dropped and was replaced with a playful glare. 

"If you know what's good for you you'll bite your tongue," her sister said good-naturedly. 

"Anyway, I was thinking that Saturday night was when we could get them back, and just them. It's not Ax's fault he's been influenced by knuckleheads," she reasoned. Cassie nodded and raised both eyebrows. 

"That was awfully thoughtful of you, Rach. Maybe You know, just you, me, Tobias and Jake and...Marco." Cassie looked at Jordan.

"You must know that telling her about him was a mistake. She'll use it against you any time she can," she stage whispered to her. Jordan was mortified.

"Please don't tell him. I would absolutely die if anyone else knew. Everyone at school already thinks I have a crush on the math teacher, if that wasn't bad enough in itself. He's almost old enough to be my father!" Rachel's eyes glinted. 

"And that's a bad thing?? Maturity may not come with age, but....experience might." She licked her chops and paused at the silence. Rachel then rolled her eyes. 

"Just kidding, I'm kidding," she insisted to Cassie and Jordan's incredulous stares of horror. 

~^~^~^~^~^~^

"Okay, so explain to me again why we had to dress up to eat at Rachel's when we could've went to McDonald's in jeans, " Marco whined as him and Jake walked down the empty street that lead to Cassie's house and the woods behind it, where they were headed to pick up Tobias. He was still pouting about Rachel's specific instructions of NOT to come in blue jeans.

The evening breeze blew faintly but the teenager's well gelled hair stayed in place. His khaki pants and brown loafers complemented the tan color of his skin, and the olive color of his polo shirt. For the fiftieth time that day Jake rolled his dark hazel eyes to the sky. Taking Cassie's advice, Jake had recently gotten his long brown hair cut into a short, stylish yet masculine style. He was wearing dark blue jeans, a black turtleneck, and brown suede boots. (A/N: He looked GOOD)

"You know Marco, every eighth grader has to prepare a full four course meal for home ec. Aunt Naomi's out of town, my parents work, Jordan had no one else to call on such short notice. Rachel and Cassie are already there, so it makes perfect sense for us to help out," he said. Ever since the whole Gladiator incident Jake had been feeling kinda guilty and wanted to make it up before they went to the movies again. He cared Cassie deeply but he was NOT willing to sit through Josie and the Pussycats.

Marco and Jake veered off into the woods where they would pick up Tobias before heading back towards Rachel's house.

"Jake, sometimes you are too nice for your own good. If it weren't for Jordan and if I didn't know any better, I'd think something other than this home economics thing was up with the girls," he said blandly. Jake raised his eyebrows.

"Really? I haven't thought about it much." They spotted Tobias high up in the evening sky and they waved. Tobias swooped down and landed on a tree banch, then dropped to the ground to demorph. Marco and Jake turned their heads after Jake placed a pile of the clothing on the ground in front of them.

"How's it going, Tobias?" Marco asked as the other teenager finished becoming human. He started to put on the clothes.

"Nothin much. Thanks Jake," he said as he slipped the navy sweater over his head and put on the black dress pants. 

"No problem, man. My mom bought those a couple sizes small so I'd never be able to fit them." They waited for Tobias to slip his shoes on before continuing through the shortcut in the woods and back on the street to Rachel's house.

"You think Jordan's food is gonna be any good?" Marco asked loudly. Jake released some air from his mouth before answering, "I'm hoping it'll at least be edible. I can't even tell you how hungry I am since my mom put us all on that "health food diet"," he groaned. The other two boys nodded their sympathy. Both of them had experienced similar torture when Marco's mom banned red meat from the house for one week and Tobias' aunt once hid all of Tobias' chocolate. 

"Yeah, what's up with that? With all the dieting they do already, you would think all girls would be skinny as twigs. Ugghh," Marco scoffed. Tobias looked disdainful.

"That IS gross. Why would anyone want to look like that anyway?" he said. 

(A/N: That part was not guy-bashing. I agree 100%) 

Jake shook his head.

"Girls. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em," he said simply, and everyone silently agreed. 

"Well...I guess if worse comes to worse I've got enough for a medium deep-dish," Marco said, pulling out his wallet and inspecting the contents. Jake did the same and a cocky grin spread over his face. Forget medium. With the remainder of his paycheck from working at his dad's office he could buy the extra-large PLUS have extra to wing AND stick it up. Twice. And he wasn't sharing.

The guys made their way up the steps to Rachel's front porch. Jake rang the doorbell twice and stepped back. For a few moments everything was silent, then they heard footsteps approaching. They all unconsciously ran their hands through their hair and smoothed invisible wrinkles out of their shirts. Marco quickly gave himself a breath check. 

Finally, Jordan pulled the door open.

Marco's mouth opened with it.

Under the white apron she was dressed in a short, dark purple tank dress emroidered with black roses. Although the nervousness was clear to them they all (except for Jake, who just thought she looked like his cousin ^_^) thought the nervous 14 year old looked really good. Especially those legs, Marco thought with a smirk. If he wasn't a gentleman he might have said that out loud.

"Hey, Jordan. Nice outfit," he said instead. She smiled.

"Hi Marco. Thanks." 

Her hair was loose and lightly waved, parted to the side. Jordan shoved a piece out of her face as she slowly took in Marco's appearance. Ouch. She literally had to stop herself from licking her chops. And he's making it really hard to do, she thought.

Jordan looked at the other two guys on the doorstep, and figured she better let them in before they got suspicious.

" Oh! You and Jake, and....Tobias! Come on in. Cassie and Rachel are in the kitchen," she said, and opened the door wider. The guys walked into the foyer and through the hall straight to the living room. Tobias found the remote and automatically switched to SportsCenter. Jordan rolled her eyes as Marco and Jake each made themselves comfortable on the futon and recliner. 

"Hmmm...they sure didn't waste any time," Jordan thought as they flipped relentlessly from one dumb show to the next. 

"Now this is what I call entertainment," Marco sighed after crowing at a Taco Bell commercial. Somehow Jordan wasn't surprised at his sentiment, but she still loved him. 

A/N: Ok, have you ever seen the Pizza Hut commercial where it says, buy a large, and get an order of wings or breadsticks for a dollar? That's what Jake was talking about. Marco was laughing at the Taco Bell commercial with the two guys coming up with these asinine sayings about their 49 cent tacos, and who could come up with the best aka dumbest one. 

Needless to say none of them could decide.


	4. White is DEFINITELY your color

At that moment, Rachel opened the door that led from the kitchen to the living room, where the guys were camped out (and Marco was staring at Jordan's legs, she thought with a smirk.) She made her presence known with a slight cough. Soon she would find that there was no need for the effort.

It was evident to all that under the white apron identical to Jordan's Rachel's black skirt was very tight. And short. It ended well above the knee, and Tobias quickly discovered the perfect position of recline on the chair to give himself a quite nice view of Rachel's assets. She smiled at him and he about fainted.

"Hey everyone. Me and Cassie were just finishing up the salad. I hope we didn't keep you waiting too long," she said apologetically as the guys-sans Jake, who was actually enjoying the looks on Marco's and especially Tobias' face, openly gaped at Rachel's long legs.

"It must run in the family," Marco muttered under his breath. Jordan barely hid a satisfied grin as she walked over to her sister. 

"Naw, they've just been watching a little TV. I'm sure a few more minutes won't matter. After all, they came a long way to have a good meal. And I intend to give it to them. Good," she said, looking squarely at Marco, who hid his blush with a sardonic smirk.

"Why don't you and Cassie keep these guys company while I set the table? It won't take long and you two have already helped me so much. You deserve it," she praised honestly. 

Rachel's blue eyes shined and she gave Jordan a warm hug.

"What would I do without you, Jordi," she said, using her childhood nickname. With that Jordan stuck out her tongue good-naturedly and walked into the kitchen. Marco stood up and wiped a few Doritos crumbs from his pants.

"Uh, I'll go see if she needs any help," he said as way of explanation, and wasted no time getting himself to the kitchen. 

Rachel wondered if it would be mean to throw a condom in after him.

After his departure the room filled with silence, except for the listless drone of Andy Dick's voice from the television, and Jake flipping through a TIME magazine. Tobias cleared his throat and awkwardly shifted on the couch. 

Rachel took off her apron, folding it neatly and holding it in her arms. She was wearing a creamy white, cowl neck sweater that complemented the vibrant shade of her shiny blonde hair, and the healthy tone of her peaches and cream complexion. Rachel grinned at Tobias' roaming eyes. 

"Hello," she said softly. He smiled, his eyes nearly glazed over.

"Hi Rach." She continued to stare at him. His smile dropped.

"What?" Her grin relaxed into a small smirk.

"You look very nice. I'm glad you could make it. This really means a lot to Jordan. And to me," she added. Tobias then blushed.

"It's nothing. I'm here to help in anyway I can, all of us are," he said. 

"In ANY way?" Cassie asked as she entered the room. Jake looked up from his magazine, then felt the blood rush out of his face. Now while he had thought Rachel and Jordan's outfits were pretty...daring, he was thoroughly amused by the fact his two friends were making fools of themselves by salivating all over his aunt's furniture. In fact, he'd been wearing a smirk on his face the entire time. But this, this was DIFFERENT! The only word to describe his sweet Cassie's outfit was cruel.

Her black skirt was long, all the way down to her ankles, but that almost didn't matter by the huge slit running up the side. Her smooth, milky brown, well-toned ALL THE WAY UP HER LEG side. 

As soon as Jake told himself he could deal with that, he got a glimpse of the shirt that nearly made him faint. It was also a white sweater, much like Rachel's, except Cassie's dipped dangerously low. So low he wanted to do them both a favor by just ripping it off and-

"Is something wrong, Jake?" Cassie asked worriedly, sympathetically. He swallowed and shook his head. Tobias took it upon himself as the poor guy's friend to help him out.

"Oh, he didn't tell you? Jake's just got a small cold. Maybe he needs a Kleenex or something," he sputtered. Rachel snickered at Tobias' lame excuse. She walked over, sat in his lap and sighed.

"There's some in the linen closet down the hall. Go on, you wouldn't want to keep my guest waiting," she said at his bewildered look. He stood stiffly and did as he was told. 

Meanwhile Jake was still trying to find his voice as he gaped at his maybe-too attractive girlfriend's provocative choice of clothing. Cassie smiled softly at him.

"Do you like my shirt Jake?" she asked innocently, dark brown eyes twinkling. Jake slowly brought his gaze up to her face, confused.

"Huh," he managed to say. She shrugged, and crossed the room to sit next to him.

"Well, I noticed you were staring at it. You were staring at the SHIRT, right?" she wondered. Rachel could hardly contain her gaiety as her best friend made a fool of her cousin. 

Jake frowned and blinked twice.

"Of course I wasn't...I mean NO, no I mean of course I was! It's a very nice shirt. Nice color and fabric and everything," he answered quickly. 

He can be so transparent at times, Cassie thought, thoroughly amused. 

Cassie frowned and patted Jake's leg.

"It's okay, you'll feel better as soon as I get some food into your stomach. Colds can do weird things to your body," she said soothingly. So can hot girls, he thought as he silently admonished himself for being so transparent.

Tobias returned to the room with a handful of Kleenex and passed them to Jake, who suddenly remembered his "condition". He coughed and blew his nose as Tobias returned to his "viewing" on the couch. Rachel shook her head. Boys can be so transparent sometimes, she thought.

Just then Marco re-entered the tension-filled living room, his self-satisfied smirk projecting calm and cool. 

Rachel wondered if it was too soon to jump him for trying to bang her baby sister.

"Jordan wanted me to tell everyone dinner is ready." As everyone rose to go inside the kitchen, Marco smirked and looked at Rachel.

"By the way, tell your sister she's very talented in the kitchen," he said. In more ways than one, he thought as Rachel pondered permanently disabling him in a very painful way.

A/N: Hehehe...


	5. Dinnah is Served

Everyone filed into the kitchen and took their place at the cherry-wood kitchen table. There was a nice, dark blue cloth covering it and the Lazy Susan had just been taken off to make room.

Jordan had had Marco set up nameplates by each glass, and it never occurred to him that something might be up with the way she wanted all three guys sitting next to each other, and the girls on the opposite side. As if it was planned to be that way... 

Jordan sat a bowl full of pasta salad in the center of the table, along with sauteed green beans, au gratin potatoes, rolls, and a platter of baked chicken. The guys' eyebrows raised appreciatively at the appetizing spread before them. Maybe this won't be so bad after all, Jake thought, recalling his earlier Plan B. As soon as Jordan filled the water glasses she sat down beside Rachel, who was sitting next to Cassie. Jake was across from her and Tobias sat next to him, leaving Marco at the other end. 

Jordan sighed and smiled nervously.

"Well, dig in." She barely had to say the words before the guys grabbed the food and proceeded to filling their plates ten times faster than she had made the meal. Rachel, Jordan, and Cassie watched in amazement as Marco shoveled cheesy potatoes on top of his roll, Jake added salt to the pasta salad without even tasting it, and Tobias pluck out four big pieces of chicken only to peel the carefully seasoned skin off all of them. It was truly disgusting, and it was enough to make Rachel and Cassie wonder if Ax had rubbed off on them as much as they had him.

Rachel, Cassie and Jordan waited patiently for their guests to finish getting the food before serving themselves. Jordan politely took a knife and held it in the air.

"Which piece of chicken would you like, Rachel?" she asked. Rachel frowned in thought and said, "Everything looks amazing, but you know how much I love breasts." Tobias' choked on his water, Marco looked startled and Jake didn't know whether to laugh or be very afraid. He looked across the table at Cassie and waited. She spooned a small helping of pasta salad onto her plate, then reached for the dinner rolls. But she remained silent.

"Well, I don't know, Rach. I think the legs might have turned out a little dry. What do you think Cassie?" Jordan asked, looking to the older teenager. Jake concentrated intently on his chicken as he pretended not to listen.

Cassie took a sip of water and shrugged.

"I really couldn't say. I haven't had chicken since I was four. But I do know how long you marinated those thighs...I'm sure by the time you took them out they were nice and juicy," she reasoned. Marco's eyes widened but he shook his head and took a long swallow of water. I really need to get my mind out of the gutter! he thought silently. 

Tobias glanced at the half-eaten thigh on his plate and wondered if it would be rude to add how tender they were, too. One glance at Marco told him to keep his mouth shut. 

Dinner resumed normally for about five minutes before Jake felt an itch on his leg. He shrugged it off as nothing and bit off a piece of bread when the feeling returned. This time it traveled up and inside his pant leg, then down again. He impatiently looked across the table at Rachel, who was grinning. 

She would do this to him at the table when they were younger, imitating their obvious parents who used to do the same thing. One time she had caused him to spit out his food in laughter and they both ended up getting in trouble for being rude. This time he didn't find it so funny.

Jake discreetly kicked the foot that was harassing him and again, returned to his meal. But she was relentless. Her foot began exploring his leg again, this time a bit more intimately, and THAT was when he realized it wasn't Rachel. He looked up from his plate and into the sweet, angelic face of his girlfriend, Cassie. She smiled at him over her water glass and blinked.

"What's wrong? You look like something is...bothering you."

Jake smirked and sat back in his chair. Two could play at this game. 

He slowly slipped off one shoe and began his ascent up her smooth leg just as she had him, except he went a little further in his explorations. Cassie's face flushed red and she coughed after setting down her fork. 

Jake grinned triumphantly as Rachel patted Cassie's back. Three could play at this game. After she was done helping Cassie recover she said, "Cassie, why don't you give Jake some breasts!" No one moved. Slowly, all eyes at the table turned to her. Cassie tilted her head in contemplation, and nodded.

"Well...why not? What about it Jake? Wanna go for it?" He sputtered and stared at her. He couldn't believe she had just said what he heard. 

"Huh what," he said. Cassie shrugged and brushed a curl off her forehead. 

"You already finished everything. I'm sure Jordan wouldn't want anyone going around hungry," she said, gesturing toward his almost clean plate. Everyone released a sigh at the same time and Jake's face returned to it's normal color. 

He was letting her get the best of him and he knew it. He could also tell be the smirks on Marco and Tobias' faces that both were happy to see him get his comeuppances at being so smug earlier in the living room. After all, two of the three women in the room were his cousins. That already put him at an unfair advantage. 

But they had to admit that Cassie was doing a great job holding her own. None of them had any idea she could be so blatantly sexy, and be so good at it at the same time! Least of all Jake, who was quickly becoming impatient with his weaknesses.

In one last attempt to salvage his friend's dignity, Marco reached for his water glass and "accidentally" knocked it all over Jake.

"Oops! My bad Jake!"

THANK YOU, the drenched boy thought to himself and pretended to look upset.

"Jeez, and I just had this sweater dry cleaned last week. I better go um, dry off," Jake exclaimed and ran to the bathroom. Everyone jumped when the door slammed behind him a split second later. Cassie frowned and looked down the hall. 

"You know, his cold might get worse if he doesn't hurry up and get dry. I think I'll help him." Jordan looked mystified and Marco and Rachel wore identical smirks. Tobias shook his head and stood up himself. 

"Uh, no that's alright! I'll get Jake a towel as soon as I mo-" he glanced at Jordan, who was listening intently. "-do that thing I have to do when it's almost been two hours since I last did it." The others quickly caught his gist and nodded, but Rachel smiled at him and pushed the plate away from her.

"I think I'll join you. After all, you never know what could happen after you do that thing you have to do before two hours. Something could go wrong." Although Tobias knew her offer was probably a ploy to make him look dumb, he could hear the sincere concern in her voice. He made no argument not to let her join him and they left the room together to go upstairs to do that thing- he had to do before two hours, that is. Jordan looked confused.

"So what are they going to do?" she asked Marco.

"Grown ups business, babe. Let's just leave it at that."

A/N: Thanks for staying with the story! ----(@


	6. Oh My

Upstairs

Rachel was sitting on her mom's bed, repairing a small hole in her clingy pantyhose while Tobias was morphing and redressing in the adjoined bathroom. She hummed quietly to herself and applied a small amount of clear nail polish to the tear, then blew on it to make it dry. 

That's the position Tobias found her in, admiring her handiwork proudly, and he couldn't help but smile. He was actually exhausted from the constant morphing. Not to mention a bit wary of Rachel's clever games. But you know, he thought to himself as he silently crossed the room, maybe it's worth it. He placed a gentle hand on Rachel's shoulder and she visibly jumped, and turned to face him. Her blue eyes were wide and surprised, but she quickly relaxed.

"Don't do that, you almost made me spill this polish all over the comforter," she said grudgingly, but her eyes gave away her true feelings. Tobias shrugged and sat down next to her, lying back to stare at the ornate ceiling fan.

"You would've forgiven me," he replied confidently. Rachel looked down at him and cocked a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, really. I'm the guest and the guest is always right."

"Really," she snorted, and stood up to put the polish back in a drawer. 

"Well, this hostess is telling you, she has no money to replace expensive bedspread and she doubts you've got the dough to do it, either. Here, I brought some pie up for you while you were in the bathroom, I didn't think it would last too long with everyone downstairs" she told him, a plate with cherry pie and ice cream in her hand. Tobias grinned and tossed a pillow in the air.

"Are you sure you're not luring me into a trap?" he asked coyly. Rachel frowned, genuinely confused, and sat back next to him.

"What?" Tobias smirked and sat up, taking the plate out of her hands and lifting the fork. 

"I want you to try to this first," he said, pushing it toward her mouth. Rachel closed her mouth and shook her head.

"Uh uh! I hate cherries!" she exclaimed, pushing the loaded fork away. In the process she managed to dump it all over the bed, the dark red juice already beginning to soak into the fabric. 

"See what happens to people when they don't want to listen?"

"Shut up!"

Tobias laughed, quickly running to the bathroom and snatching a towel off a rack, and brought it back to Rachel.

"Here, I got it," he said, and patiently worked most of the dark stain out of the blanket, but not all of it. Even though it wasn't all his fault Tobias couldn't help but start to feel a little guilty.

"It's okay, Tobias."

"Jeez, I'm sorry Rach. I didn't realize..."

"No, really. It's okay."

Tobias didn't even realize how okay it really was until he looked up into Rachel's face. She was grinning like the Cheshire cat itself.

"My mom got this comforter on sale in the Martha Stewart section at K-Mart. It probably didn't cost her more than 15 bucks," she admitted, and burst out laughing. 

Before long she was doubled over, and taking in air in big gulps. Tobias just glared at her for a second, then scooped up a handful of cherries and threw it at Rachel, right square in the middle of her face. Rachel, horrified, stood up and knocked the fruitness off her face.

"Bad move, Toby-boy," she said, and dumped New York Vanilla all over his hair, and most of Jake's borrowed shirt.

Uh oh. Now it was ON!!!

For the next few minutes Tobias and Rachel pelted each other with sticky cherries and melted ice cream, the whole time wondering if they were sick individuals for enjoying it so much on her mother's bed.

~~~~~~~~~

Downstairs

Both Marco and Jordan were trying hard not run upstairs and watch the presumed kink fest they could hear from their seats all the way in the kitchen. Not hard enough. Jordan sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"You know, I always knew there was something different about Rachel. Something strange. But I never thought she was into that freaky stuff. And that's a scary thing," she added, shaking her head slowly. Marco sighed, and walked around the table to sit next to and put his arm around Jordan. Only to console her, of course.

"It's a real shame. I always knew she would corrupt bird-boy though," he said, and grinned. "Just not this fast." 

"You wouldn't do that to a poor, defenseless guy, would you?"

Jordan smiled and rested her hand on Marco's thigh.

"Me? I'm the perfect angel."

"I don't know about all that, but you sure are heavenly..." Marco moved in for the kill when they heard another sound, this time coming from the bathroom.

"Oh my gosh, I forgot Jake and Cassie were still in there!" Jordan said, turning her head swiftly in the general direction. 

Marco mentally snapped his fingers at her sudden movement and waved his hand dismissively.

"Oh, I always knew THEY were horny." Jordan's light brown eyes widened devilishly, and she grabbed his arm.

"Let's go listen." Marco was taken back at first, then his eyes teared up with joy. Beautiful, smart, AND perverted. They really were soul mates.

~~~~~~~~~~

Quietly, the two nosy teenagers tiptoed to the closed (and locked) bathroom door, and carefully listened:

Cassie: "I can't believe I missed this all night."

Jake: "You had to help Rachel and Jordan, I don't blame you."

Cassie. "Still. After seeing it look so good I should have made the special effort."

At this point they both laughed, then silence. Marco and Jordan's eyes were round as saucers listening to the...uh...racy conversation taking place. Jake spoke up.

Jake: "I hope it was worth the wait."

Cassie: "Believe me, it is. It's wonderful, Jake."

Jake: "You really think so?"

Cassie: "It's perfect. Hard, but it feels sooo good. I love it."

Not THAT horny!!! 

Gagging, Marco and Jordan covered their mouths and ran out the front door. Thus, missing the last of part of the conversation...

Jake: "Yeah, well the stylist said that with this particular cut, putting some gel on the tips of the hair would hold it better, plus deep condition. I'm glad it did the job. "

Cassie: "Me too, Jake."

And they kissed...

A/N: Aww isn't that sweet...^_-


	7. Friends and Lovers

Jordan's view from the front stoop was pleasantly nice. The night sky was clear and dark, speckled with thousands of white gold stars. A couple of cars drove past quickly, sending the brown and red leaves tumbling through the empty street. Jordan shivered slightly as she patted Marco's trembling back. His complexion was still a little green and she was starting to get a somewhat worried. 

"Really, Marco. It isn't something to get so bent out of shape about." He look at her with dark, glazed eyes. If circumstances would've allowed, she might have lost herself in those deep pools of-

"How can you say that? You've known Jake for as long as I have, Cassie too. Mr. "Let's be Serious about This" and Miss "Lets Hug Trees and Eat Tofu". You know, the pillars of pious. Does either one of them strike you as the type for five minute quickies in the powder room?" he asked, stricken. Before Jordan could reply Marco said, "And Tobias and your sister. Or maybe I should say, the horny Energizer bunnies. I mean, I'm all for having a good time but dude! They're going at it so hard I'm surprised they haven't broken the backboard yet!" 

Jordan's look of amusement softened. When he put it that way, it WAS kind of strange to be in a house with so many raging hormones. She never would have guessed her sister could be enamored with such a quiet, thoughtful type a guy. And she had to admit, overhearing Jake and Cassie little "encounter" had been really bizarre. But that wasn't going to stop her from spending some quality time with an incredibly smart, funny, hot boy.

"Maybe it's something in the food. If so..." she finally said slowly. Marco's face lost its look of disgust and was promptly replaced with one of coy sleaziness when he glanced at the look in her beautiful almond shaped eyes. If there was one person in the whole world better than Rachel in keeping him on his toes, it was no doubt Jordan. 

"So what are you trying to say," he said, taking Jordan's hand to help her stand. She held on for a second longer before letting her fingers brush against his tanned arm.

"Maybe we should go work it off. You know, get it out of our systems before the effects take place?" 

Marco grinned broadly and put his arm around her waist. After all, it was a cold night and he didn't want Jordan to catch a chill or anything.

"Lead the way."

*****

Rachel and Tobias were exhausted. They were both coated from head to toe in sticky melted ice cream, not to mention their hair was matted with syrupy cherry juice. It completely covered the Martha comforter and some of the floor around the bed. The logical part of Rachel knew her mom would be furious if she saw the mess they'd created, but the rest of her was too tired to care. Tobias poked Rachel in the ribs, who was lying beside him.

"I win." Rachel glanced at him sideways and smirked.

"Not even in your dreams." She reached over to pick a cherry off the collar of his ruined shirt and flicked it somewhere.

"You have no idea how gross you look right now," she commented. Tobias opened one of his eyes. 

"I could actually say the same about you." There was silence for a few moments before Rachel rose to look in the mirror in her mom's bathroom. She sighed disdainfully.

"My mom is going to murder me in my sleep for destroying her room like this," she sighed, pulling soggy pie crust from her long, matted hair.

"I'll always remember you," he said from the bed. Rachel rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Thanks."

Tobias suddenly, uncharacteristically burst out laughing. He could hardly keep the tears from running down his face as a surprised Rachel stared at him from across the room.

"What?" He attempted to answer but it took awhile longer for him to regain his composure. He got off the bed to embrace Rachel, who was still glancing at him warily.

"Nothing. It's just that...well...do you know what they must think downstairs?" he asked her. Rachel's eyes widened. It never occurred to her that they had totally left Jake, Marco, her little sister and Cassie in the kitchen. She couldn't hear anyone and figured they must have gone off on their own to do whatever. What was worse was that she knew Jordan's attraction to Marco was mutual and they both were on the DL about it. She sighed.

"Well, they made it this long without us...a few more minutes can't hurt," she said, before wrapping her arms around Tobias' neck and kissing him soundly on the lips.

****

Jake walked into the kitchen, and his eyebrow's raised in confusion when he found it deserted. There was no sound coming from inside the house but no one had said they were leaving any time soon.

"Where did everyone go?" he asked. Cassie shrugged, as confused as he was. 

"How strange. I mean, we weren't gone that long, were we?"

Jake smiled slowly.

"Well...we kinda were," he admitted, glancing at his watch. A half an hour had passed since Cassie came to help him with his "stain". He didn't much. In fact, he didn't mind at all. 

Cassie blushed pink. She said, "Oops. I hope they don't think we just abandoned them. Hopefully they'll be back, soon." She turned away from Jake and walked towards the table. She noticed a half of pie sitting out on the counter as well as a pint of ice cream. 

"Well, they left us some dessert," he said, putting the half-melted container of Edy's back in the freezer. 

"That was sweet of Rachel." Cassie cut herself to a small piece of pie. 

"Here," she handed the knife to Jake, who sat it back down and just took the rest. Cassie's mouth opened..

"Don't tell me you're going to eat that whole thing after everything you just ate." Jake looked at her skeptically.

"I only had a few plates," he told her. When she just continued to stare, he sighed.

"Obviously you don't have any brothers," he said resignedly, kissing her forehead. She poked him in the ribs as they sat down. While they talked and ate, Jake realized he'd never had so much fun hanging out with someone of the opposite sex, Cassie. 

It was hard to not notice the obvious differences, like the musical way she laughed, and the sweet, sexy shyness she exuded so often, but he loved her company. She always managed to bring him out of any dark mood he might be in. He couldn't imagine a better way to spend his time.

As Jake smiled at her again, Cassie thought of all the times she believed she'd never see him, or his smile again. They were too numerous to remember. She acknowledged the fact that their lives were not normal, and probably wouldn't ever be, but she was still happy for the moment. And despite the fact he was blind to many of his sexist ways, he was probably the best male friend she had. They could speak to each other in ways they couldn't with anyone else. She hoped to never lose that bond.

"What are you thinking about, Cass?" Jake asked, watching her as she smiled lightly at him. 

"Nothing... what about you?"

"Me neither."

They were falling harder than ever. 


End file.
